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Galactix
Space...The final frontier....A vast cosmos, brimming with life. And where life treads, war soon follows. Story So Far: Humans During the American Civil War, a ruin in Kentucky was found. From this ruin, several pieces of technology were removed. Among them, crude rapid fire gunpowder weapons. They were studied extensivly, leading to more efficent fire arms. Then, during the summer of 1912, A spacecraft of unknown origin crashed into Germany. the Kaisers scientists studied it extensively, leading to numerous technological advancements in Germany. Believing that this tech gave them an Edge, Germany assassinated an Austrian Ambassador, framing some Serbian students, thus begining WW1. Due to their technological advancements, the Central Powers managed to best the armies of several nations....until they attempted to convince Mexico to invade America. Learning of this treachery, America joined the Allies. The Cental Powers, learning of Americas advanced tech too late, were crushed. However, the Allies did NOT learn of the Spacecraft, and believed that the Germans had merely found some more ruins. 21 years passed. A man named Hitler rose to power. Obsessed with the occult and paranormal, upon learning that his country had a captive space shuttle, he invested a great deal of resources to studying it. After he had learned a great deal from it, he launched an invasion of poland, believing that Germany was once again powerful enough to challenge the Allies. However, unbeknownst to them, several more crafts had had been found/crashed. One was found in Tunguska(And was possibly the cause of the Tunguska Event that had taken place over twenty years prior), One crashed into New Mexico, and one crashed into the sea near Japan. Secretly studied over the years, these crafts gave the Allies even more advanced technology. With it, they were able to push back Germany and its allies. Uncovering the existence of their Spacecraft, it was soon taken by Russia, giving them two such crafts. Thus began the Cold War, which was explained to the public as a nuclear rivalry, but was in fact a struggle between both America and the Soviet Union to uncover the mysteries of the ships. Eventually, America managed to remote activate the self destruct on one of the ships, causing a massive catastrophic explosion known as the Chernobyl Incident, which was explained as a meltdown at a Nuclear Reactor. Forced to rely on the research gathered from the other craft, The Soviet Union lost an important piece in the war of science. However, they still managed to use their research to send up the first satellite: Sputnik. Enraged at this, America redoubled its efforts to go into space. However, one event disrupted this. Another Craft crashing into the sea near the carribean. Using Cuba as a proxy, The USSR had them search for the downed craft, giving them several missiles in return, as well as some alien technology. Alarmed, the president of the time set up a blockade of Cuba, demanding that the USSR cease giving the Cubans Missiles. Unbenownst to the public, however, they also told the Soviet Union to cease giving the Cubans alien technology, threatening war. Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the USSR, deciding that a war would not be worth it, complied. Sans Soviet interferance, America managed to find the craft first. They were immediatly stuck by the knowledge that this craft was different. Equiped more for combat, the Craft seemed to be some sort of alien fighter vehicle. Unlike the other crafts, its life support system was over 79% functional, breaking records. Most other crafts had life support funtionality of less than 1%. Using information gleaned from this craft, America was given the final push needed to send a manned flight to the moon. Enraged, the Soviets began cutting corners on their research, activating systems haphazardly. They eventually activated the engines, launching the Craft into the sea near Australia. Having lost their only ship, technology in the USSR stagnated, contributing to its collapse. Unhindered, America dvanced at an incredible rate for years...until the two remaining spacecrafts were removed from the pacific. One was found by Japan, the other, by Australia. This started a technological reinassance in both countries, with Japan quickly becoming a technological powerhouse. Australia, realizing how big an event this was, was more cautious in their research, namely studying ways to defend against such technology, believing that there was a high likelyhood that Earth would eventualy be invaded. Twenty years passed. Technology flourished. Tensions flaired. A war started between two forces, the UEF, and the ACN, bringing about World War Three in 2057. For twenty years, the war dragged on, until, out of desperation, the ACN used nuclear warheads in an attempt to crush the UEF. Retaliating, the UEF used their newest creation, the Rift Bomb. It was devestating. 30% of the Earth was rendered uninhabitable due to radiation. The ACN were.....well, the continent they resided on was now a toxic hellhole. They quickly surrendered. However, the UEF were not spared the effects from the Rift Bomb, as fallout made their territory mildly radioactive, and the debris from the blast caused what is comparable to a new ice age. Various species were wiped out, and what remained began to mutate rapidly due to the increased radiation. Most reptile species that did not live around the Equator died out. any human populations who were not near the equator were forced to live in 'Settlements', giant domed city states. Due to the nature of the world, for about 100 years, no wars occured, because no one could AFFORD a war. Then, in 2221, an event known as the great thaw began. Much of the ice covering the world melted, and plant life thrived. Numerous settlements began to expand. However, many were curious about the Ruined Lands, and more specifically, the Rift Bomb Blast Zone. Numerous scientists were sent to the RBBZ to study the effects on the Ecology and Geology the bomb had. What they discovered would change everything. At the very edges of the RBBZ, trace elements of...something, was found. Scientists had no name for this substance, which emited strange properties. Moving closer to the epicenter, they found more and more of this substance. Taking numerous samples and refining them, they discovered two things. 1: They had discovered a new element, 2: It could alter physics in a localized area if treated properly. They named this new, fantastic element Singularium. They began to study a way to synthesize it. However, unbenownst to earth, they were being watched. 2311, Earth had its first encounter with living aliens, and they were NOT friendly. An invading race of Cephalapoidal Aliens attacked. Using their advanced technology, they conquered much of the inhabitable world, and thus, war raged once more. But this time was different. Humans were not killing humans. They were united against a common threat. and one nation had forseen this outcome. In the end, it was Australia who saved humanity. Using their various anti-alien plans, they waged war upon the Octopods, and rallied the rest of earth. They hit the aliens with everything they had. The invasion itself ended when a strike team detonated a miniature Rift Bomb on the Aliens hiveship. Forced to flee, the aliens invasion had been repelled. Humanity had faced down a race thousands of years more advanced than them, and kicked their ass. Salvaging the tech left by the aliens, humanity began studying both it and singularium in greater detail, eventually culminating into the basis of human energy: Rift Cores. The first, and to date, only, source of clean, renewable energy that was efficent as fossil fuels. However, Rift Energy had one drawback. It was difficult to synthesize. Thus, war started once again, between the New Russian Rebublic, and the European Confederacy over mining rights. The NRR and EC had, for the past ten years, several disputes over their alloted districts in the Blast Zone. This was the first war in human history to use Rift Core based weaponry. Luckily, it was confined to the two countries. However, it was still devestating. Stepping in, the UN took control of both countries, and declared martial law. This was the first step in the formation of a one planet government, as this action became precendent, with the UN able to dissolve and take control of any country. Meanwhile, technology marched on. More attempts to perfect Singularium Synthethis happend. In one of these attempts, artificial anti-gravity was achieved. Ecstatic, the lead scientist began to try to duplicate, and improve, the result. Thus, the Grav-Core was born. Once again, technology was revolutionized. Air travel was made nearly costless, and going into space was now cheap enough for recreational uses. However, travel amongst the planets was limited due to the small amount of singularium. Until Teddins Oswald. Born 2321, Oswald was a simple chemist who lived in the Oklahoma Mini-Settlement. At about twenty, he had a breakthrough in modifying singularium. He suceeded in changing its state of matter, creating liquid singularium. Though lacking any use, it was hailed as a breakthrough by the scientific community. He was placed at the head of a UN Think Tank charged with finding a simpler way to synthesize singularium. The name of the think tank? The Brainiac Association. Faced with a daunting task, Oswald divided the organization into 3 cells. One was tasked with improving existing Rift Core design, One was charged to experiment with Singularium based compounds, such as a singularium-titanium alloy known as Warp Metal, and the last was charged with finding a better way to synthesize singularium. Day after day, the Brainiac Association pumped out new devices, new matierials, new Rift Core designs. But the one division that mattered, Synthesis, was barely making any progress, advancements coming at a snails pace. Until Oswald discovered just how to duplicate the effects of the Rift Radiation that created the singularium in the first place. He managed to generate a great deal, and supercharge a piece of quartz with it. The quartz metamorphosized into a solid chunk of singularium. He had done it. It was simply a matter of generating anough Rift Radiation and supercharging an existing element with it. With this new technology, it was a simple matter to inhabit the rest of the solar system. Mars was the first. although initially living only in domes, they managed to terraform the red planet. Mercury was next. Last, was Pluto. There, they found the Rosetta Terrasque, a massive, dead, dreadnought that had belonged to the Octopods. Upon examination, they discovered that the ship had WORKING FTL DRIVES. A true first, they salvaged the ship and began to study it. Learning that the ship was powered by Fusion Reactors, The UN sought to both duplicate it, and improve upon its design by merging it with Rift Tech to replace the reactors. However, before they could do this, war broke out once more. For, after mankind had spread to the rest of the solar system, unrest grew as the settlers began to resent their Earthborn cousins. Viewing them as tyrants, they took every oppurtunity they could find to harrass them. Upon the ship being discovered, the Settlers demanded it, viewing it as rightfully theirs. The UN disagreed, and took it anyways. Declaring war, the Settlers attempted to invade Earth. So began the Sol War. For FIFTY YEARS It was fought, neither side surrendering. Until the Knopth Massacre. The two sides had recieved intel that a moon in Jupiters orbit was housing a munitions factory working for the other side. No one knows which side did it first, but the surface of that moon was bombed to the point where its crust was little more than molten slag. It wasn't until after that they learned that their intel had been faulty. Upon the moon was a refugee camp. Agreeing to a cease fire, the two sides sat down and discussed the terms of truce. And thus, the Sol Federation was born. Resuming study upon the alien craft, within five decades they had working, Rift powered FTL travel. And thus, the great Sol Federation spread throughout the stars. Story So Far: Gar The Gar's beginings to spaceflight began in 3120 AD. At the time, the Gar had technology comparable to ancient Rome.Society, however, was a far different matter, due to Gar biology being far different than that of humans. Insect like in nature, their ability to communicate via pheromones(Similair to that of an ants ability to commune using pheromones, but far more sophisticated) would, by itself, result in a massive developmental diverge compared to other sentient races. But then one must factor in the other significant biological feature of the Gar: Psionics. The only race to ever have Psionics, period. Manipulating reality in such vivid ways that one could not believe, with Psionics, the Gar could communicate across continents, read minds, lift objects telekinetically. However, these powers came at a cost. The Gar produced no great works of art, no epic monuments, no religions capable of whethering the ages, and very, very few novels worth reading. In short, they were a cultural corpse. And worse, their reliance on Psionics had reduced the rate of technological development to a crawl. They had remained in their current technological phase for over three thousand years. Then they found the beacons. Left as a hyper advanced SOS system for an alien colony that had been wiped out long before the Gar evolved, the beacons stretched across the planet. The first one was encountered by the Ganxlian Army, who were, at the time, chasing an enemy army out of their homeland. Accidentally activated by the Gar General Oxa, the beacon began broadcasting. However, for whatever reason, whether it be the fact that the signal was too weak, or that their was no ships in range, the gar remained unnoticed, and continued with their slow, slow development. Fast forward hundreds of years, and you have the most barbaric nation in all of Gar history. Of course, these being the Gar, it was reletively mild compared to other races contenders for most barbaric nations. Starting on a campaign of conquest, they absorbed many surrounding countries. They also activaten not one, not two, but SEVEN beacons. This.....was a mistake. For, while the signals were weak, they existed, and announced the existence of a habitable planet to all within range. Unfortunatly, within range was an old foe of the humans: The Octopods. Invading and enslaving the Gar, their world was turned upside down. Forced into factories and 'pleasure dens', the Gar were a crushed people. Resistance was little. Until Argamades. A Gar Psionic Metalax, Argamedes managed to rip the function of the beacons from an Octopod. And information of the one race that had defeated the Alien Invaders. Humans. Using this knowledge, the Gar Metalax set out to use the remaining beacons to send a distress call to the humans. The call was heard. Inserting several agents on the planet to train and organize a Gar insurgency to soften the Octopod Resistance while the federation mobilized its fleets, the Federation readied itself to go toe to toe with its old foe. The insurgency was massivly successful, due to the Octopods having developed few anti-psionic countermeasures. Thus, when the Federation 1st Fleet rolled in, it was a simple matter to crush the Octopods, who once again fled into the depths of space. All that was left was the descision on what to do with the Gar. Debate raged on whether to leave them to their own devices, set up a protectorate for them, or add them to the Federation. In the end, the matter of Psionics settled the debate. Deeming the Gars abilities to useful to go to waste, the Gar were offered Federation membership. They accepted. The rest, as they say, is history. Biology: Gar The Gar are a bipedial insectoid race with several ant like traits. Unlike ants, however, they lack mandibles, instead having several muscles that allow them to apply enough pressure on their food to chew it. They have a double set of arms, a primary, or 'Strength' set designed for heavy lifting, and a secondary, or 'Dextrous' set for precision tasks. They sport a heavy, dense exoskeleton. Contrary to common belief, this exoskeleton does NOT provide protection from projectile weaponry. It has roughly the same consistency as human bone, and while it does not stop a bullet, it DOES provide protection agains melle attacks. Said exoskeleton comes in a variety of colors, from a dark grey, to a muddy brown, to a vivid red, to a pale white, to a dark black. Another feature of the Gar is their Psionics. Usually, a Gars Psionics will activate aroung their 12th year of life. No proper way to measure how powerful a Psionic has been found, yet the avarage Psionic has enough power to lift 1670 kg when fully focused. Abilities related to Psionics vary, but among the more common abilities are such powers as Passive Detection(Read: The ability to see without eyes) , Thought Transferance, Telekinesis, Illusion, and Healing. Story So Far: Kothians Also known as Goblins Hailing from the Nygma system, on the planet Qwin, the Kothians first got their first whiff of spaceflight from a downed exploratory cruiser during their Information Age. Taking it apart, they relentlessly studied it, improving their microchips processing power by 500%, as well as several other technological advances, such as directed energy weaponry. Using this newfound upgrade, they built incredibly complex computers known as 'Monoliths'. Using them to map out societies path, the Kothians entered the Age of the Monolith. Eventually, a group known as the 'Kredzinag Directive' entered power. Instituteing a planet wide eugenics program, only those who possessed certain criteria were allowed to breed. While things like physical health and fertility were factored in, what recieved the highest priority were mental traits, such as intelligence, mental health, problem solving solving skills, and so forth. Unlike many other races attempts at species wide self artificial selection, the Kothians succeded, resulting in a race with an extremely high mental capacity. Meanwhile, newer, better versions of the Monoliths were developed. Each new itieration resulted in a more complex, more intelligent monolith. However, none of these massive supercomputers were truely sentient. Until Monolith Alpha. Developed by Drax Corp. , Monolith Alpha combined the best in AI development with new, experimental Monolith tech. This started a chain reaction that would result in disaster. For what it creators did not know was that Alpha was unstable. Deeming Kothiankind as being not just inferior, but pests to be wiped out, Alpha plotted, leading technology down certain paths, and skillfully making sure no other sentient Monoliths were created. Then, in 2501 AD (Human Calendar), it began its war of extermination. Using various factories to produce its constructs of war, it managed to push Kothiankind to the edge of extinction. No matter what tactics they used, they could not outwit Alpha. So, in a last ditch effort to stop the rampant AI, they produced Omega Monolith. Tasked with destroying Alpha and protecting what remained of the Kothian race, Omega was far superior to Alpha in terms of speed and processing power, as well as being mildly more complex. And thus began the war to retake Qwin from Alpha. For over a century it raged. entire continents were reduced to molten slag. The atmosphere was made much more toxic. Planet temperatures increased by 30 degrees celsius. In the end, it was thanks to the Xeltus 43rd that the war was won. An elite spec-ops team, Xeltus staged what can only be called a suicide mission to assault Alphas primary processing center and destroy it. They suceeded, ending the war once and for all. Not one member of Xeltus survived. Given numerous medals, they were posthumously declared war heroes. And so, Qwin began to recover. After shutting down Omega, the Kothians began to finally focus on nonmilitary research. They quickly developed a way to create working lifesupport for spacial vehicles. As such, they were able to limitedly colonize other planets. However, they still lacked FTL, which would not be developed for over a century. Meanwhile, something was discovered beneath the surface of the 5th planet in the Nygma system, Drazin. A vast, subterranean labyrinth filled with numerous pieces of Xenotechnology. Nicknamed the Vault, it seemed that this labyrinth was designed as a alien storage space. Taking apart and studying these bits of technology, the Kothians made two important discoveries: Micro Antigrav fields, and cold fusion. Greatly easing spacetravel, as well as giving what can only be called an easy source of energy, the Kothians were able to spread to the other seven planets of the Nygma System. Meanwhile, the old Kredzinag Doctine lost its popularity. It was replaced with a much newer philosophy, Zzazism, which could be interpreted as an early form of Kothian supremacy. It stated that the Kothians were the master race, and destined to rule the galaxy. What boggles most historians is the fact that the Kothians had developed a form of Xenophobia before they had even MET any Xenos, or even left their home system. Eventually, a Kothian known as Cephal Xeggis was born. This Kothian would revolutionize space travel, and give the Kothians working FTL. Born on Fies, to a pair of rather mediocre Kothian specimins. He grew up to join Vasas Travel Inc as a researcher. Heralding in many new innovations, around his sixtieth year, he created the Higgs Feild Nullifier, or the 'Bubble Drive', as it is nicknamed. It creates a bubble around the ship it is placed on, reducing its mass to less than zero, allowing the ship to reach speeds up to 400 times the speed of light. Thus, travel amongst the stars became a reality. However, fate still had one tradgedy to play. For, after making contact with other spacefaring races, even ones far more advanced than them, the Kothians acted with an air of derision, viewing the non-Kothians as being inferior. Most races wouldn't have cared, and simply ceased trade with them. Unfortunately, one of their neighbors, The Oggish, weren't so tolarant of the Kothians attitude. Due to their blatant condesending attitude toward other races, numerous political gaffes were made toward the Oggish, who grew to dislike the the Kothians. The Kothians viewed the Oggish as fools. War itself did not break out until the Kothians executed a group of Oggish abmbassadors whom they charged with spying. They did not recieve a trial, an investigation, or a represenetive. They were just executed. Said execution was broadcasted live. This angered the Oggish enough for them to declare war, attacking the Kothians. Taking numerous systems before they were stopped, the Oggish destroyed the Kothian belief of their own supremacy. After intense negotiations, a non-agression pact was signed, starting the Kothian-Oggish Cold War. For a hundred years, this terse peace remained. The Kothians in general forgot about their war, and went on with their lives. However, the much longer lived Oggish never forgot, and hatred festered. Eventually, a coup occured with the Oggish, with their leaders being overthrown by The Militant Council, who wished to wipe the Kothians out one and for all. Attacking without provocation, they began a campaign of genocide. Men, Women, Children, all were killed at the hands of the Militant Council. Forced to resort to geurrila tactics, the Kothians were losing ground every day. However, a group of Kothians managed to evade Oggish patrols and sneak into another system and request aid. It just so happens that the system they sneaked into belonged to a government known as the Federation. Deeming the genocide of the Kothians as a heinous war crime, the Federation began a war of intervention, freeing the Kothians, and pushing the Oggish back to their home sector. Though the Kothians were now free, they lacked any semblance of a defence force and were severly weakened. Stepping in, the Federation set up the Kothian Protectorate. Agreeing to provide military protection and economic support for thirty years, the Federation remained. However, thirty years would not be nearly enough time to rebuild the remains of Kothian society. Realising this, near the end of the thirty year period, the Kothians requested Federation membership. And so, the Federation grew by one race. Biology: Kothians Kothians are a bipedial race, noted for their short stature, generally topping in at four feet five inches(On avarage.).Their skin tones range from a dark grey to a deep green, and eye colors tend to be yellowish. Their ears are large and pointed, designed pick up sound from long distances away and tell the exact location of said sounds, making the Kothians walking radars. Their skin tends to have a rough, bumpy texture similair to very course sandpaper. They have adapted to be able to survive in highly toxic enviroments and metabolize several poisons. Kothians have a short life span, usually clocking at about sixty years. This is due to the fact that they metabolize faster than other organisms. Compared to other organisms, Kothians have a significantly denser brain mass, with more reactive synapses, allowing them to process information more quickly, and store up to 200% more information. Federation A loose collective of several races, the Federation is noted as being one of the biggest Galactic Governments in existence. The only government to use singularium, the Federation maintains a monopoly on Rift Core technology and Psionics. To quote a visiting dignitary, The Federation is like a well oiled machine. Works efficently, and can crush you beneath its gears. Federation Government The Federation is comprised of two branches, the Legislative, which is head by the Assembly, a house of government comprised of thousands of represenetives, one for each Federation world, and the Executive, which is headed by the Meritocrasy, a military organization. The Legislative is frequently called the 'Democratic' branch, as it is the branch in which officials are elected. Tasked with adding and modifying laws as is best for the Federation, the highest house of the Legislative branch is the Assembly. Due to the massive size, each Assemblege is done via networt, making the Federation a sort of E-Democrasy, with each represenetive never having to leave their home. Ammendments and new laws (Refered to as 'Proposals) require 50% of the Assemblege voting to aprove of said proposal. However, if a law is unpopular, it can be vetoed locally by lower houses. For example, the Assembly might pass a new Anti AI law, and a certain planet might object. The planets legislative body might then hold a meeting to vote on whether to veto said law. If 70% of the legislators agree, the Law is vetoed, meaning it has no power on that planet. The executive branch is the military, police force, and judicial system rolled into one. Headed by the Meritocrasy, A branch of military that promotes people based on their level of skill, the Executive branch also has the Militia, the Defacto police force, and Legal Matters, the justice department of the Federation. Federation Technology -Rift FTL: Creating a Wormhole of sort, Rift Core based FTL drives are good for precision jumps. However, unlike conventional FTL, they have rather short range, requiring several jumps to reach the target location. -Rift Core: Devices that use singularium to create a distortion in physics that allows for, among other things, Antigravity, Perpetual Machines, Wormhole creation, ECT, ECT. -Bubble Drive: Designed by the Kothians, the Bubble Drive is an extreme form of antigravity, reducing an objects mass to less than zero, allowing for quick FTL in the Bubble. However, said FTL is innaccurate in the extreme, the Faster it goes, the more inaccurate it gets. -Nanoconstructors: Tiny devices that utilize nanomachines to create, recycle, and modify things, Nanoconstructors are usually given to engineers to assist in their daily work. Nanoconstructors must be preprogrammed for any task. Thus, a past time of many engineers is programming their Nanoconstructors to perform tasks that might become nessesary in the future. NOTE: the core programming of the Nanoconstructors have blocks added that prevent them being used on organic beings. Tampering with this programming will result in immediate self termination. -Cybernetics: Augmentation requires a permit. Cybernetics in the Federation are described as being 'Sub par, but tolarable'. Said cybernetics are usually granted to soldiers or those who have been in an accident. -Gene Mods: Over three hundred gene mods exist, and at least 100 of them are for military. Once a person has gotten a Gene Mod, it usually takes five months to three years for a gene mod to manifest. Creation of new gene mods is highly restricted. Federation Military Units and Divisions Naval -Rhino Charger: A massive, heavily armored space ship, the Rhino is designed as a siege breaker. A frequent method of blockading planets involves dragging an asteroid feild into the planets orbit, and placing several spacial turrets behind the feild. Designed to rip through the asteroid desbris and turret fire and attack the turrets directly, the Rhino is one of the oldest models of military space craft still in use, its highly efficent design causing very few modifications to be needed as time progresses. Usually equiped with a strong forward weapon, avarage sheilding, and is more heavily armored around the front. -ONION turrets: With the advent of space travel, a method was needed for static defence in border space. A man named Zawn Katzroy developed the TURNIP Spacial Turret, a sort of small satellite armed with a few fighter class weapons and a targeting VI. More efficent than anti-Orbital Cannons, Spacial Turrets soon became highly popular, with civilian and military models popping up. The current military model is the ONION. Fighter sized and possesing medium sheilding, its primary weapon is a Heavy Lazer Cannon, which can take out multiple targets in one shot, its secondary weapon, the Arc Zapper shooting a stream of electricity at hostiles, disabling their systems. -Phat Daddy: The accepted bomber of the Federation, the Phat Dadddy carries numerous bombs. Typically Nuclear Grade or higher, the Phat daddy is used to bomb enemy instilations and fortifications. Usually accompanied by an escort of ten fighters to protect it, Bombers are considered a last resort weapon. -Typhoon Carrier Class: A distinctly human innovation, the Typhoon takes a classic carrier, adds an FTL Drive, and mounts several heavy guns. Usually carrying an upward of 600 fighters, Typhoons are the only carriers that don't require support crafts for FTL and are capable of their own defence. The downside is that they carry less fighters than other models, which can hold an upward of 1500 fighters. -Azathoth: Designed by Kothians, made by Humans, and capable of Annihilation on a horrific scale, the Azathoth took decades to construct. The size of a large moon, the Azathoth is the largest ship in the Federation Navy, and is considered to be both a superdreadnought and a super carrier. Holding over 15,000 fighters and even more personell, the Azathoth rarely ventues out of Federation space, and when it does, it usually means the Federation is on the ropes. -Eldritch Ship: The standard dreadnought of the Federation, over three hundred are in existence. Used as mobile command posts and defensive ships, Dreadnoughts are so massive, they cannot land on the surface of any planet, and must be constructed in space. Holding thousands of guns with which to ward off fighters, they also carry several bombs and a few missiles, making them very versatile. Their name comes from the fact that most Dreadnoughts are named after creatures from the Cthulhu Mythos and related works, such as the 'FRD Hasture' or the 'FRD Nyarlathotep'. -Wasp: The standard fighter unit of the Navy, the Wasp utilized duel 360 thrusters to ensure extreme manueverability and speed. Its weapons system consists of a mounted 'Needle Gun' that shoots long, metal rods capable of gutting crafts, and a 'Javeline Thrower', which fires small homing rockets at foes. Army Units Grunt- The standard unit, the 'Grunts' classification is a misnomer, as Grunts, while often having a specific loadout and weapons set, can be of any rank in the Federation ground forces. Made up of either Kothians or Humans, Grunts have the most simplistic loadout, but make up for it with extensive training, making Grunts one of the most skilled primary units in the Galaxy Loadout: -Manticore Assault Rifle V12: Designed by the Arrach Bismal Corporation, the Manticore was originally designed to be a lightweight anti-armor weapon for use against Octopoid heavy armor. Recent advancements have made it ineffective for its original purpose, but a group of engineers, looking for ways to recycle outdated weaponry, discovered that, with a few modifications, the Manticore made an excellent infantry weapon. since then, it has gone under nine modifications, with each new version being better than the last. The Manticore fires three inch long spikes that rip through most infantry armors and sheilds, and is noted for its lack of full auto, forcing soldiers to pick their targets. It has a number of mods, ranging from a Scope, to a flamethrower attachment, however, most soldiers will only recieve a standard issue Manticore. It has a clip size of about twenty shots, making reloading less of a hassel, due to the low chance of someone's clip running out mid fire fight. -Chaswing Hatrak Armor: Designed by a group of military funded Kothians, the Chaswing is noted for being fairly sturdy, able to take a decent amount of damage. However, it is made up of only Armor, so any anti-armor weapons are extremely lethal, and due to the fact that it has several unprotected area's, any decent sniper will be able to down them. -Nutriwater Canteen: Frequently, Grunts get deployed in operations that might take weeks. Thus, each Grunt, regardless of their post or assignment, gets a Nutriwater Canteen. Filled with two days worth of nutrient enriched water, the Canteen can provide the body all it needs to survive, and has a device that will filter water in it as well. However, the Canteens are notoriously unpopular amongst troops for the astoundingly disgusting flavor of the water. -Snickers Vita Bar: In 2812, Snickers was bought by the government. Using it as a tertiary revenue source, it was not until 3110 that the first military grade 'Vita Bar' was produced. Like the nutriwater canteen, the Vitabar has multiple nutrients. However, it serves more as a moral booster, its excellent taste improving the mood of many a trooper. Engineer- 'Sometimes, guns just don't cut it. Sometimes, you need brains and a set of tools. Thats where the combat engineer comes in. Broken Equipment? The Engineer will use repair nano's to fix it up. Need to set up a strong barricade within five minutes? The enginner can set up a force screen. Hostile mech assaulting your position? The Engineer can temporarily hijack it, giving you some breathing room. Formed up of humans(Kothians and Gar having their own equivalent units), Engineers, while not being as strong as some others, are one of your most vital units. Loadout: -Hybris Combat Shotgun: One of the few weapons invented by Gar, the Hybris relies on a Size 19 Rift Core to power its mechanisms. The Hybris collets matter found in the air and converts it to plasma, which can penetrate up to one inches of armor, and has a fire rate of one shot every ten seconds, making it more suited for defending against hostiles. -Cyclical Barrier Generator: Engineers, lacking heavy armor, must make due with sheilds. The Cyclical Barrier Generator is powered by a small rift core. Having the appearance of a small metal backpack, the Cyclical Barrier Generator has to high a power draw to be used constantly, and thus is activated at intervals of ten minutes, usually the length of a gunfight. Neither absorbing nor stopping weapons fire, the CBG actually redirects it, making it require less energy than, say, a Riot Barrier. -Nanoconstructors: Used to recycle objects, repair weaponry, and sabotage machinery, Nanoconstructors are a staple of the engineers tools. Preprogrammed with over 400 functions, many engineers, as a hobby, spend their spare time adding new functions -Force Screen: A device that makes an energy barrier that can be used as a quick barricade or instant cover. A drawback is the fact that the massive power drain only means it can be used for a few minutes. Story So Far: The Oggish From the text ''Pantheon to Xenocide, a History of the Oggish Peoples, by Archpriest Garzin "My races story begins on the planet Chathad, when the stars were new, forged by my races first gods. Our first gods were cruel and capracious things, and we were as chattel to them, mere toys for their amusement. I have read the religious tomes of other races, and I find it amusing that they only call the entities that had their sense of morals gods, while any entity that had a differing set of morals was a devil or a falsegod. Not so with the Oggish. Our first gods were cruel, evil creatures, but they were gods. But even gods may be slain. From the stars came Xenoth, the entity we worship today. Slaying the vile first gods, he gave us the Codex, and freed us from our chains. He then entered his eternal slumber, which the Codex tells us will end when the Oggish peoples are facing their greatest threat. We then began to spread all over the planet. Unlike other races, we expanded slowly, covering only half of our worlds total inhabitable landmass by the time we developed radio. It was a little after that that we discovered the method to link Oggish and machine. Cybernettics, other races call them. We called them gods gift. Admittedly, our first creation''s ''were pained, horrid monstrosities of steam technology fused with flesh and bone. However, as our technology improved, so did our Golemns. Understand, our whole race viewed biological manipulation as a sin, so while other raced developed drugs and chemicals, we barely discovered penicillin. But in other branches of technology, we flew. Curious fact, we developed direct energy weapons before flight. I always found that amusing. Anyways, it was in the year 2390 AW that we discovered the secrets to space travel. We actually had to set up breeding programs so that we had a large enough population to sustain a galactic dominion. '' ''What followed was a golden age. Peace, longevity, wealth. Many of a race has had its golden era, but my people are the only ones who had a post-spacial colonization golden era. '' ''But, as the Codex says, every bright light eventually darkens. 3672 AW, we came into contact with the Kothians. Hate does not even begin to describe what we felt to them. We despised them, irrationally, wished to tear them limb from bloody limb. We do not know why. No other alien, no matter how pompus or hostile, had ever caused such fanatical hatred in us. For the most part, we were able to control this rage, and contented ourselves with strict embargoes against them. But every dam has its breaking point, and ours was the day the Council of War overrided the Bishops Assembly. Understand, our race is theocratic, the Bishops Assembly runs everything. The Council of War controls our military, however, and had been looking for an excuse to go to war. Eventually, they decided that enough was enough, and imprisoned the Assembly, and declared the Oggish Imperium a military state, and them the new presidents. They declared war on the Kothians immediately. ''Alien media likes to portray us as all agreeing with the Council and doing what they say without a single word of protest. This was not so.' Many orthodox or loyal Oggish fought, and bled, to put the Assembly back in power. However, they were but a lake fighting an ocean. They fought, they bled, but they only slowed the abomination that had been our civilization. Slowed. Without them, the extermination of the Kothians would have been finished. As it was, they nearly destroyed both of us. If not for the Federation...'' Do not mistake my words, I do not consider the Federation heroes. Their technology is strange, and in some primal way, horrific. I believe they had their own dark motives. But I digress. The Federations war with the council was not, as media likes to portray, a 'curb stomp battle'. I must admit, I take some twisted pride in the fact that, unlike the prior race the Federation had warred against, we nearly defeated them. As it was, it was not until they finished production of the Azathoth that they succeeded in breaking us. Forcing the Council to return power to the Bishops Assembly, the Federation made them an offer: Join as a associate member, and they would provide monetary aid in repairing all that the Council had broken. '' ''The Assembly wisely declined the offer. Biology: Oggish The Oggish stand seven feet high, covered in scales. Resembling a bipedial crockodile, the Oggish have a dense muscle system, giving them a beefy appearance. Their bones are extremely dense. These factors are postulated to be the result of their planets gravity that is roughly two times that of Earths. Their brains resemble more complex versions of existing earth reptiles. It is noted that the Oggish are 'hardwired' to desire structure and gravitate towards strong hierarchies. Their lungs are highly efficent, able to draw out enough oxygen from the thin atmosphere to allow for higher thinking. It is noted that the Oggish were, in their distant evolutionary past, ambush hunters. the Oggish, due to the way their metabolism was designed, require a large amount of energy to function, resulting in them being large eaters. When not panicked, stressed, or worried, their behavior is rather calm, passive(Some would say sluggish) Their Scales are usually a dull grey to a deep green. Their bodies produce large amounts of adrenaline, and a chemical known Xyporex that is found in their brain. This chemical allows them to enter a state of hyperawareness, where everything seems slowed down. However, they can only activate this natural ability every so often without risking neural degeneration. Technology: Oggish The Oggish have made massive advancements in the sciences of cybernettics, to the point where every almost every Oggish has recieved aumentations. It has got to the point where the Oggish are the only race to perfect Brain-in-a-jar technology. However, their knowledge of genetic engineering and biology is woefully behind other races. For FTL they utilize a device that creates an area of 'Folded Space' that makes the area they wish to reach the same as the area they are about to be in. Culture: Oggish The Oggish have a theocratic culture that places emphasis on their religion. The religion most Oggish belong to is known as Xenothism, named after its deity, Xenoth. Outside their religion, Oggish culture emphasizes structure and stability. This manifests in the fact that few Oggish ever turn to crime, something viewed as being inherently chaotic, and yet, the few Oggish criminals that do exist tend to be unusually organized compared to criminals of other races. Oggish, even non-religious ones, follow a complex set of rules called the 'Codex of Xenoth', shortened to Codex, which details how an Oggish should behave in any given situation. Known for being extremely long and complex, it usually takes over a year to read. Zargatha ''The humans know us as the Octopods. They believe us to be a savage, uncivilized race of barbarians. We are not. We are warriors, bred and trained for battle. Our species developed on the fourth world of a yellow dwarf system. Our atmosphere was thick, nearly liquid, and low on light. We developed appropriatly. We were masters of our world, lords of our gaea''. 'We were an apex species, evolved to be masters of our domain.' '''And, Irony of Irony, we were ''pacifists. I cannot express my sheer disdain for the concept. Words do not end an enemy, weapons do. PACIFISM does not keep ones children safe, WAR does.' '''We learned this the hard way. We were invaded, enslaved. For a century, we were the lower class, whipping spawn of our masters. But they didn't factor in one thing. Push anyone hard enough, no matter what race, age, or gender, and they will snap. An abused animal will only take so many whippings before it snaps.' And snap we did, rising up in a glorious revolution, crushing those who had kept us in chains for over a millenia, killing every male, female, and childspawn. Genocide never felt so good. Of course, we now had to deal with the Galaxy at large. Genociding any race, no matter how badly they had opressed you, is considered morally wrong. Hypocrits. Had they been the ones subjugated, they would have done the same. They speak of 'Morality', but who practises it? No one! They sought to punish our race, sending out their weakest fleets, thinking us weak, thinking us pathetic. ' '''They did not expect us to destroy every ship, and begin a counter offensive. For our race had matured. We were no longer the naive, soft creatures our terrestrial ancestors had been, nor were we the ill, tormented things our closer ancestors were. We had matured, and we knew that every waking moment, our race would be under threat. ' '''So we prepared, and when the hammer finally fell, we were ready. The other races soon decided to....reconcile with us. We demanded but three things. They never enter our territory, we be allowed to expand into unclaimed territory, and if we sought to assimilate another species into our own, they would not interfere. ''' '''For eons, we expanded, and were gods. None could oppose us! We were the nightmare of every spawn in the galaxy! We were feared, which, for us, meant we were safe. Until we found the humans. In a heartbeat, all ''that we had worked for was swept away. Our hive ship destroyed by that mockery of a weapon, the rift bomb, our camps over ran, and our forces expelled by a race of PRIMITIVES'' . 'We fled that planet, and placed the whole system under quarantine. We would let the apes be, allow them to destroy themselves. Looking back on it now, I wonder if we did not unleash the greatest threat this galaxy has ever known by not reducing their planet to a smoking cinder. But back to this history of our fall from power. The Galaxy knew we had been bested by a race of archaics. They laughed at us. Mocked us. they no longer feared us. 'And as every'' Zargathan knows, fear equals safety. Already, we were challenged. It was small, at first. Bolder demands at the trading table, a larger number of pirates at our borderspace, and such. But even a tiny flame may grow to be an all consuming blaze. Realizing this, we launched a war against a neighbor race, the Malathans, who had begun gathering intelligence on our military assets. They CLAIMED it was in case we instigated a war, but even the most simple spawnling could tell they were planning on an invasion. We were more than justified in reducing their civilization to a smoking heap. ' '''Coincidently, their entire race has become nomads. I shall not lie, I find that hilarious.' Assured of our safety, we went about our business, making sure we could not be threatened. It was in this time period we commited a grave, unforgivable sin. Enslavement. We began to do unto others what had been done unto us. Specifically, the Gar. ''' '''Upon our discovery of them, we regarded them as inconsequential. Even more primitive than the humans had been. We saw no reason not to rule them, and turn their world into a pleasure planet. Even now, I regret that. '''We did not count on two things. Two, teeny, tiny, MASSIVE things. The first was that our guard at the Human Quarantine Zone had died from a horrible, horrible disease, allowing humans to develop outward, and the second was psionics. 'We had considered the Gars inherent abilities to be useless as anything but party tricks. When they revolted, we were caught completely unaware. Our horror was further increased when we encountered.......THEM. Humans. Planet slayers. Death Lords. They had evolved from mere primitives into something far, far worse. ' '''The phrase, Humans are Cthulhu comes to mind. I don't know who popularized it, but the meaning behind it was more than true. Humans had become creatures to whome physics were not laws, but mere suggestions. Creatures whom weilded awful, unnatural, VILE technologies that ALTERED HOW THE LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE WORKED.' This was our fault. We should have destroyed their planet when we had the chance. Now, we may have unleashed the greatest threat the galaxy has ever faced. Not even the Thin Men rival them. They may CLAIM to not be hostile, but I recognise them for what they are: A threat to all life. But back to this great tradgedy that is history. It is well known what happened next, of course. We were swept away, the Humans forged a dark alliance with the bugs, and so forth. Few remembered that they didn't stop at liberating the Gar. they continued their assault, reducing us to a single system before we managed to push them back with our new technology, the Brood. 'The Brood. Biotechnology at its finest, and most horrific. The Brood were chimerical creatures composed of the DNA of us and other races, forming.....abominations....that allowed us to turn the tide. ' '''We were not fools. We knew that victory was only temporary. Thus, we performed the final option. Diplomacy. 'We negotiated with the humans, agreeing to cease hostilities in return for the return of at least 2/3rds of our space. The humans agreed, so long as we agreed to punish our societies leaders. And by punish, it was fairly clear they meant murder, so we did. After all, best not to rock the boat. We could pursue vengeance at a later date. First, we needed to rebuild.' '''We needed to develop. We needed to ensure victory.' '''Time passed. We developed our Brood, and began studying the humans damned Rift Technology. We even managed to, on a limited scale, merge the two. Do not mistake me, we were never masters over singularium like humans, but we managed to limitedly incorporate it into our technology, allowing for our massive bio-organic ships, new, monstrous strains of Brood, and more.' '''Now, we prepare for a war that the galaxy has never seen before. The humans shall fall before us, and we shall end them and the threat they represent.' Biology: Zargatha The Zargatha are a cephalapoidal race, that, in evolutionary design, resemble several deep sea earth cephalapods. Lacking conventional limbs, they instead utilize a mass of tentacles, with the avarage number ranging from 15 to twenty. To manipulate their enviroment, they have special 'Grasping Tentacles', which are located slightly higher on their body and are noticeably longer, and have several mini-tentacles attached to said grasping tentacles. Zargatha eyesight is a complex and hard to explain thing to non-Zargatha. Due to the design of their eye, they lack the ability to differentiate between several colors, but can detect ranges of light that other races cannot. Due to the placement of their eyes, of which they have roughly fifteen spanning their entire head, they have a 360 degree range of vision, but said range of vision is rather short. They reproduce by laying eggs, which can take up to nine months to hatch. Their offspring, reffered to as spawn, are grub-like in appearance. The Zargatha have a gas sack located near their back that is filled with ligher-than-air gasses that they use as a means of emergency propulsion and.....enemy incapacitation. Technology: Zargatha The Zargatha utilize organic technology known as the Brood. Originally developed from chimeric strains of other species DNA hybridized with Zargatha genetic information, the current strains of Brood have developed considerably away from their original forms. This effect was increased after the Zargatha managed to learn how to produce singularium and splice it into certain members of the Broods DNA, allowing for their massive bio-organic 'Behemoths', ships that have been called, not without reason, space whales. However, contrary to most individuals think, the Brood is not a few strains of massive bio-weapons, but can be incredibly small, infantry weapons, such as the Czkerk Needle Rifle, Organic Computers, or even civilian vehicles. They have limited singularium mastery, being able to synthesize it and incorporate it into certain technologies, but compared to the federation, their understanding of it is remarkably low. Culture: Zargathans The Zargatha culture, what of it exists, can be summed up in a few words: Paranoid. Xenophobic. Histrionic. And dubiously justified. Due to long standing cultural scars, the Zargatha are inherently paranoid, and consider every race in the galaxy to be a potential threat. Thus, they consider 'preparation' something every citizen should participate in. this preparation revolves around learning geurrila tactics in preparation of an alien invasion. Zargatha also place a high value on family, with many Zargatha living in communal hive-homes with their spouses and family. Interesting note, the rough translation of the word they use for family, Zohrkil, is the same word they use for their biomachines, the Brood. The pronoun for single items of the brood is Kathrkil, their word for children. This, along with how many Zargatha are rather zealous in taking care of their biodevices, implies that they subconsiously see the Brood as their children, which contradicts their professed disgust with the creature-machines. Government: Zargatha The Zargatha have a highly decentrilized government, with each planet having a single represenetive at their 'meets', which is presided over by a sort of president elect, who's job it is to judge debates impartially and keep them fair. Each planet has its own method of choosing a rep, and in many cases, the represenetive has no control over the planet he represents policy. With the exception of a few select rules, no planet is forced to obey any rule made in a meet. However, in times of crisis, the President Elect can and will take control of the meets and essentially act as a temporary dictator. To prevent him from growing too powerfull, after a crisis is over, the President Elect is either killed or jailed. Malathans "We were a race of merchants and spies. Poets and tinkers. We were an old race, and much of our history has been lost. I shall list here in these tomes what I know. We were born on a watery world, mostly tropical, close to our sun. We were an amphibious race, skilled in hard light technology and antigravity. However, we were unable to access the stars, due to a crippling lack of FTL. Until we discovered the Ark. Upon retroflection, that discovery is the only reason the Zargatha could not destroy us completely. '' A assive ship of unrivaled power and strength, the Ark had crashed onto our planet during its primevil era, hosting millions of stasis pods, each with its own corpse. For you see, the Ark had been an attempt by another galaxy to colonise our own. A failed attempt, due to the galactic cage. Each and every life on that ship was extinguished by the dark terrors that roam the dark space, while the ship was left perfectly intact. Replicating its technologies, we were able to duplicate it, building massive, graceful ships that would take us to the stars. We would have made smaller ones, but'' we were ....' Impatient. To impatient to design smaller models. Which would take, at the least, several years, during which time massive city-ships, which we named after the first Ark, would become more and more popular. We established relations with the neighboring races, and developed our empire. We soon established less than friendly relations with our less than savory neighbors, the Ca'out. They had enslaved a race known as the Zargatha. They were brutal masters, treating their slaves like cattle. We pitied the Zargatha. We thought they had gotten a 'bad deal'. We were fools. The Zargatha are a inherently insane and violent race capable of understanding only brutality and violence. We learned this personally. They had been acting more paranoid and psychotic than usual. We did not learn until later that this was due to them having been ousted by the Huumens. We investigated, fearing that they were preparing to invade. We were partly right. They were preparing to invade, but had not decided whom to invade. After catching our bugs, they had 'decided' that our attempts to gather intelligence was' an act of war. They attacked every known population center we had, using such weapons as FTL missiles, Deterraformers, and other such vileties. Our race fled and hid in our Arks. Or rather, what was left of our race. Afterwards, we were able to reclaim a few of our planets, but we did not have enough to support our entire race. Much of us were forced to become nomads, wandering the stars, searching for places to live. '' ''We seethed in hatred for the Zargatha. We sought a way to best them. they had numbers and technology. We had nothing. But still, we sought a way to defeat them, reverse engineering every scrap of technology we could get our hands on. However, we could not fight them. '' ''Until we killed a thin man. Stealing its body and technology, we learned how to access the other dimension they use to travel, and learned how to draw the entities from that world and into ours, and control them. These vast, horrific creatures not of this world, were nigh indestructible. 'We dubbed them the Nameless Ones. Our first few attempts at drawing them into this dimension ended in disaster. soon, however, we learned how to pacify and control them, how to draw power from their ever shifting bodies. We tested them in secret. the few times we have had to use them outside lab experiments....let us just say that the few members of the other races who know of this technology are dead. We hear that the Zargatha are preparing to go to war with the humans. good. Let them. When their back is turned, we shall strike, and finish what the 'Ca'out started, and wipe out the Zargatha, and take our vengeance out on every male, female, and spawnling. Codex: Nameless Ones "wE WeRe BOrn in thE lANd of ZHul, In a PLaCE bEYOND thIs world oUr FiRST CONtact wAS wITH THe StIcK MeN ThEy IgNored Us We iGnOred ThEm. ThEy UsED OUr WoRlD foR MoveMENT We ConsIdered THEM CurIOSITIES wE DiD NoT THInk ANyTHING FrOM thAT worlD coUlD hUrT us We WeRe So WRONG iT BegAN With (ERROR 202: TEXT ILLEGIBLE) Xi WAs , WIthOUT WARning, REMOVed FORM AR WORLD AnD MAtERIALIZED oN THAT 1 Xi WaS IMMeediatlee ENvelOPED in AGny WE didn't Lrn this unTl L8r Bkaus xI WAs KILLed WHen XI WeNT On a PAInFULLed RAMPAge Ths WoRld HuRts Fels LIeK OuR InSiDes R GetInG CruShD UnBERAble Pains HURTS HURTS WHY DO THEY MAKE US HURT? Technology: Malathans The following was taken from the report of Agent Orange, which was then forwarded to Agent Yellow. Both are former Federation Intelligence operations who are reported to have gone freelance. Report Number Seventy Nine: I have been observing the Malathans technology for some time. It is quite remarkable. 'They used to be famed for their hard light barrier technology, as well you know, and, obviously, their Ark ships, but the new technologies they have been developing are amazing! I have made a few analysises of their new technologies, as well as their old ones. Hard Light: Much of their hard light technology has been lost. while they still have barriers and such, they lack the flashier things they once had, such as the Photomic Hammer, which was, I kid you not, a device that made a giant hammer out of hard light, big enough to crush a tank. They have a few remaining devices lying around, but much of the underlying principle behing them has been lost. See attachment A for a more in depth report over the Photomic Hammer and other such hard light devices. '' ''Arks: The Arks are.....interesting, to say the word. More firepower than a dreadnought, but you can clearly see from the design schematics I attached, they are clearly not meant for military use. What I find fascinating is their ability to generate multiple barriers. As well you know, federation ships can only generate one barrier, and if that barrier goes down, you are helpless. With Arks, that is not the case. They can manifest multiple barriers due to their redundant systems, which, from what I gather, require less energy than our sheild generators, at the cost of stopping power. 'However, due to how complex the life support is, due to the fact that their ships hold an upward of ten million people, they have to put the all the life support machinery in one spot. This is due to the fact that, if they split it up, like other ships, a lucky shot could cause massive damage. This way, they can layer multiple barrier fields in one spot., making it hell to penetrate that spot. '' ''Dimensional Ripper: This.....I don't know whether to be impressed or horrified. This is Luna Sector twisted right here. It takes reletively benign creatures from another dimension and 'rips' them into this universe. Said process is agonizing and merely existing in this universe causes the creatures pain. That being said, they are more efficent sources of energy than even Rift Cores, and tougher than any tank. It also allows them to control these creatures, via reducing the amont of pain they feel while they are in this dimension. ''Should the creature get uppity, all they have to do is turn a dial, and the pain returns. AntiGravity: Nothing interesting here. I ran across a few files that indicate that, once, they were incredibly advanced in this field, but seeing as how they have put only the bare minimum of resources into funding research, all I can say is, they are a little bit ahead by this point, and losing ground day by day. Hyperspacial Tech: No. Just fucking no. Somethings are just too fucked up ''to go ''into detail about. ''You want someone to write a report about this shit, send Agent Red. This stuff is waaay too fucking evil.'' Analysis: They would make a fine addition to the Federation, if not for the Hyperspace tech. They even plan to war with the Zargathans, most likely to reobtain a few of their lost worlds. However, it is highly suspect whether they will accept an invitation into the Federation, seeing as how the rumors portray us in a....less than positive light, and how , unlike the Kothians, they are more or less ''isolated from us.'' Biology: Malathans The Malathans are a amphibious race, adapted to survive in water and land enviroments. Having extremely bendy bones so as to allow them to survive at higher depth without being crushed, they tend to lack muscle, as a side effect of living on Arks, where most labor is mechanized. They tend to stand slightly shorter than humans, and have a hunched stature, which makes them seem even shorter. This stature is due to their having weaker spines than other organisms, resulting in severe back problems if they attempt to live on a planet that has even slightly above avarage gravity. Their teeth lead many to believe they were originally a scavenger race, due to the fact that, like many scavengers, their teeth falls out at regular intervals and frequently grows back. Due to the high moisture content of their world, and the low amount of salt water or polluted water, they never developed any counter measures for losing moisture, and as such, are extremely weak to heat based weaponry and dry environs. Codex: Rumors: Luna Base No matter how much they might deny it, every government in the Galaxy has its dirty secrets. The following is a rumor posted on a popular forumn of the space age that details one of the dirtier rumors of the Federation. Zackzacky: So, I was on the internet, and I keep runin into rum0rz of dis thing cawled Luna base. De fuc is luna base? Kobolt: Luna base is a f3d3r2t10n 0u7p0st on teh 3rth m00n det d0s n4zi experimentz LikkilK (M) : As Kobold so eloquently put, Luna SECTOR, as it is supposed to be called, is an urban legend revolving around a supposed Federation research facility on Luna. Said sector ALLEGEDLY performs horrific experiments on both aliens and Federation races, such as splicing Singularium based DNA into humans, cloning a Gar/Kothian hybrid, performing mass autopsies on living Zargatha, things like that. You occasionally find a picture on the net or a eye witness account, however, none of these pictures have been confirmed as real, and the eye witness accounts are a little sketchy. As it stands, Luna Sector has not been proven to exist either way, which either means it doesn't exist, or the Federation is pulling out all the stops to keep it hidden. And, considering all the stuff you hear, I can understand why they would want to keep it under wraps. NonNom: The Luna Base is clearly a fabrication by Kothian instigators looking to cause disquite Ma53Nelle: Ignore NomNom, he is merely a speciest troll. The Luna Sector, however, is most likely a hoax. Seeing as how even with Psionic protection and top military security mesures, SOMETHING should have gotten out. 000000: Thats what you think, Mc, thats what you think. Codex: Thin Men Little is known of the Thin Men, besides their apperance. Typically immune to psionic assault, once in a while, a Gar gets very unlucky, and breaches their mental barriers. What follows is a written exerpt of the thoughts and memories a Gar found in a Thin Mans mind. Dark no light Peace no thought Light comes Burns Hates Wants to kill light Pain years conditioning world too bright wish kill world hunt races take anger out on parents say kill kill races rend them win war races send tube bomb to parents parents fall silent mind goes cold search for parents find nothing attempt to follow order kill other races prevent breaking of galactic cage soon, evolve hate remains, but focused search for parents not find wipe out many races not find parents create devices not find parents find humans find parents humans parents not parents confusing form, technology, scent, confusing perhaps siblings fellow children of parents perhaps parents, greatly devolved perhaps enemy of parents must know take not-parents cut them dissect them alter them turn into more thin men show the outer bring them beyond the cage find out what they are Codex: The Iron Chains The following is an Oggish Fable that has only recently been put to paper. Long long ago, there was a man* named Kalth. He lived in a house of burnt clay**. Known by all his neighbors for how messy he kept his home, he could not attract a wife because of how unorganized he was. Scoffing at them, he claimed that keeping organized was silly, and that surely Xenoth had more important things to worry about than whether a disciple of his was messy. '' ''However, one night, he was visited by a priest-seer, who gave him this dire warning: Kalth, do away with your disorganized ways, or else, you shall be open to curses and the temptation of the adversery. Kalth laughed in the priest-seers face, and slammed the door on him. Kalth lost his farm stock first. "Bah" he said, "Just bad luck" Then he lost his siblings. This caused him sadness, but still he did not heed the priest-seer. Then, then he lost his home, which was burned down. Disheartened, he wandered, begging his neighbors for a place to stay. Many turned him away. Until one of his neighbors, the Widow Thela, allowed him to stay with her. Resting in the Widows house, in his sleep, Kalth was visited by the adversary. Kalth. Slay this widow, take what she owns. Succumbing to the adversaries temptation, Kalth strangled the widow in her sleep. Burying her in her basement, he claimed to all who asked that she had passed on. But while beings of flesh and earth*** can be fooled, those of celestial origin are much more keen. Knowing of the vile crime Kalth had commited, they cursed him to wander the world, his sins for everyone to see, in the form of heavy, iron chains, each sin, crime, and evil act adding a link. '' ''Unrepentant, Kalth wandered the land, comitting crime after crime. Eventually, he died, as all must do, but when he passed away, his chains were long, and far too heavy, and weighed him down to the earth, preventing him from entering the afterlife. Now, his shade wanders, screaming at all who encounter him, begging for mercy. Much like all Oggish Fables, The Iron Chains has a rather simple moral: Be organized or suffer. It is curious to note that the Oggish have a military unit based upon the Fable. * *: 'Man' in this instance uses the Oggish word for 'male' ** **: The meaning of 'burnt clay' is debated, but most agree that it was some form of adobe hut or similair refuge. *** ***: 'Earth' in this context refers to the ground, not the world this story originates from. The idea that this story comes from earth is ridiculous. ARMY UNIT: Iron Chained Description: Even the Oggish have criminals. Their treatment of Criminals, however, is rather...unsettling compared to other races. For a felony, they take the criminal, and install a little chip in their brain, a chip that removes free will while leaving their subject aware. How long this chip is active depends on the crime. As you can geuss, many will do anything to escape this punishment. This is where the Iron Chained come in. Placing several massive nanocarbon chains on the subject, adding extensive cybermodification, the Iron Chained only have to serve for a year, and work as soldiers and grunts in the Oggish Army. Weapons: KVX Vaddok - A large gun with over seventy barrels, the Vaddok fires at a rather rapid pace, generally reducing whatever it is aimed at to either paste or rubble. It is considered a rether effective anti-tank and mech weapon. For ammo, it shaves a small sliver off of a large metal block and sends it forward at such speeds that even if it misses, a person will probably be knocked down by the sonic boom. The problem this causes is overheating and kickback. The former is solved by liquid nitrogen clips, the latter is solved by mounting a C1 Personal Antigrav Field upon the users back. Tectonic Hammer - Place a kinetic module on a hammer. Give it the tech required to heat it to temperatures only slightly less hot that a small red dwarf star, and give it a plasma sheild. The end result is the tectonic hammer. Used by the Oggish, those who use it usually have heavy sheilding and armor. Equipment: Dermal Armor Strength Boosting Augs Implanted Sheild Generator Story so far: The Grasdaer Militocrasy The following is from a interview with a well known Kelask historian, who was interviewed for his races entry in the Galactic Infobanks. HISTORIAN :'.....Greetings. I suppose you wish to know our history, for this 'Galactic Encyclopaedia' you seem to be producing?' INTERVIEWER: Er, not the name we were going for, but yes. HISTORIAN: Very well. What would you like to know? INTERVIEWER: For now? Just a rough outline of your civilizations history. HISTORIAN: Okay then. 'Okay'. You know, I quite like that word. Anyways, where to begin? Well, first, I should explain something. My civilization, both member species of it, have a very different view of war compared to the other races. We enjoy it deeply. Its like a game to us. Indeed, we actually use a point system in our wars. I had a high score of over two thousand points. Anyways, my race, as well as our partner race, the Gkil, both evolved in the same system. ' 'INTERVIEWER: But, prior warlike races never developed spaceflight without outside assistance, and most definitely never formed a lasting alliance with another race. What makes the Militocrasy different? HISTORIAN: Most likely it is the fact that we are warlike in a much different manner. Again, war is like a game to us. Or perhaps a sport. We have rules when it comes to it, and we never, ever break those rules. Anyways, back to our history. Both our races developed in the same system, on very similair planets. Prior to radio, the primary motivation for war was not ideology or resources, but sport. Indeed, every facet of both societies were designed to facilitate the great game. Indeed, when we finally discovered radio and made contact with our bretheren, we were EXITED. War between ourselves had begun to grow boring, stagnant, and most of all, PREDICTABLE. So, anticipating fighting a new foe, for the next two hundred years, we advanced as rapidly as we could, until both our races were able to meet each other in glorious space combat. INTERVIEWER: Who won that war? HISTORIAN: Depends on who you asked. That is still being debated on today. Anyways, we fought, and fought, and each battle, we increased our technological levels. Eventually, we developed FTL. With that, we spread throughout the stars, and learned that, apparently, not all other races enjoyed war. We shrugged at this, and continued fighting each other. What they considered enjoyable was none of our business, after all, and we were not very interested in the affairs of our neighbors. Until the Shal'dar and the Drazzik conflict. INTERVIEWER: ... 'HISTORIAN: Not 'ringing a bell', as you say? The Shal'rar-Drazzik conflict began when the two races had a minor dispute over borderspace. A slave owning nation who '